[This is the third part of the path to self-love. Goes together with "Reflections" and "Mirrors", which are better to be read before this one.]

He felt inspired because he realized,

That he finally was one with his heart.

He thought he was ready to open the truth

To the person he held affection for inside.

But somehow, he still couldn’t fully be clear

In showing his most vulnerable parts, to feel dear.

Some conflict chained him, forbidding to act:

The fear and the hope didn’t want to split up.

This contradiction at times wore him terribly out:

He couldn’t fully place his trust in the other one.

Joy and anxiety changed like times of a day,

Leaving him wanting some quiet time away from the pain.

The person showed they could read him like a book,

Even if he gave out that tiny bit of his mood.

He felt thrilled but likewise terrified:

He didn’t, yet he longed to be seen more than he let out.

What were the feelings he had for the one?

Affinity? Delight? Or just his loneliness took up?

Even the faintest attempt to be genuine each time

Brought the duality of intimacy and estrangement to light.

His self-love was yet so young and unsteady,

Built on the rubble of his painful past.

It was the treasure he wanted to share in the embrace,

But was afraid that the one would take it for a junk.

The fear of being understood but still neglected,

He found out, was hidden beneath his layers of doubts.

But it wasn’t as easy to carry

‘Cause then his identity would be on the verge of collapse.

The emotional bond was too strong to break away from,

But it was as powerful to ruin him now and forever:

What if the person grasped the darkest parts of his heart but rejected?

Did that mean his world wasn’t worthy of being loved?

However, he should know: his world is worthy of everything.

Though his self-acceptance is still in its infancy,

It holds a quiet resilience, too profound to break.

And if someone rejects it with frigidity –

That someone just isn’t the one to see all the beauty in it to adore.

It is better to try and be rejected,

Than to be locked up in the fear eternally.

This painful experience will make his self-love blossom even more,

Because being open is an essential part of every human soul.